Bittersweet My Lover's Secret
Oh, where had my sweet love gone that morning
when later that day he’d met his death?
It was early January, cold and dreary
when he left unusually early without a word.
For days I wondered and I wondered
where my lover had gone!
A few days later his father came to me
bringing me as a token - the leather jacket
my lover had been wearing that horrid afternoon
when senselessly he had been killed
by a drunken reckless driver
as my lover used a crosswalk and got run down.
The night before his demise,
my love and I had kissed
underneath his umbrella in January’s rain.
I still recall him pressed against me
wearing that same leather jacket
which now I’m wearing as I walk home.
I press that leather jacket
tighter to my chest as I recall
how the whole world got washed away
that minute in the downpour that his lips met mine.
We’d run then to his apartment, flinging eagerly
our rain-soaked clothing to the floor.
Underneath the sheets, still cold and wet,
we passionately embraced.
How quickly I then warmed up
in my sweet lover’s arms.
His smile alone could always warm my soul.
He was my sun. He was my all!
The next morning when I awoke,
my love had already left. Never did I get
my usual call from him that afternoon.
Two days later I learned the reason why
when his father brought my lover’s jacket
and told me how his son had died.
So here I am now two weeks later.
Rain has begun to pour on this dreary day.
I let my fingers wander in the jacket pockets.
Something lies hidden beneath
the lining of one pocket; my fingers touch upon
a crumpled piece of paper! What can it be?
The small paper is a receipt from a jewelry store.
My love had apparently left early that fateful day
to purchase my surprise -a diamond engagement ring!
What happened to that ring? I will never know.
But that crumpled receipt reveals my lover’s secret,
and my tears fall bitter-sweetly with the rain.
1/12/2023
for Hilo Poet's Metrical Tale Poetry Contest
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